This invention relates to apparatus for printing, cutting, and applying labels to envelopes, packages, and other mail pieces or articles, and more particularly, to an improvement to such apparatus.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/759,785, U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,803, there is described apparatus for use by the postal service records in processing mail. The apparatus is used with linerless labels which are provided on a roll with one side of the label being printed on, and with the other side being coated with an adhesive backing material for affixing each label to a mail piece. The label is called linerless because there is no backing strip covering the adhesive backing on the labels that has to be peeled away before the label can be applied. The apparatus described in the above referenced application is advantageous in that it employs a high air volume, low pressure air source. Operation of the apparatus is such that an end label on a roll of labels is first printed, then cut off from the roll, transported from a first location to a second location, and then applied to a package, envelope, or other article at the second location. While designed primarily for use in postal service operations, the apparatus has other applications as well for printing labels of various types and applying them to different articles.
In addition to various problems previously addressed and overcome by the apparatus, this application addresses an additional problem which is label jamming. The sequence of operations of the labeling apparatus include first indexing a label through a printer section so the label can be printed. From the print head, the label is moved to a cutter where the end label is severed from the end of a roll, and carried from the cutter to the article and applied to the article. In conveying labels from the print head to the cutter, a pair of cable guides (an upper guide and a lower guide) are used. Heretofore, the upper label guide had a plasma coating which allowed the adhesive side of the label to move smoothly over the guide surface without sticking. Over time, the plasma coating wears off and labels do stick to the guide. This creates jams.